One of the best (and worst) tales from 3 years of Cointelegraph Journal – Cointelegraph Journal
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On Oct. 1, 2019, Cointelegraph Journal’s founding editor, Jon Rice, pressed publish on the first-ever characteristic story for the publication — a narrative by Swedish fintech author Jinia Shawdagor concerning the country’s embrace of a cashless economy.
The brainchild of former Cointelegraph CEO Jay Cassano — who was managing editor on the time — Journal was designed to fill a serious hole in crypto media with in-depth options exploring all angles of the problems in a considerate, thought-about method. Whereas it’s simpler to get site visitors writing breathless tales about Bitcoin worth predictions, Journal is an try to provide readers and the trade a extra clever strategy.
I got here on board after assembly the group at Cointelegraph’s convention in Singapore. On account of an amusing mix-up between “Austria” (the place a narrative they needed to cowl was primarily based) and “Australia” (the place I really reside), I used to be commissioned to jot down Journal’s seventh-ever published article, “Blockchain startups assume justice may be decentralized, however the jury continues to be out.”
This stroke of excellent fortune led me to turn out to be a employees author, and later to take over as editor after Rice moved on (he’s now editor-in-chief of Blockworks). Three years on, Journal has amassed a terrific group of normal contributors, together with Blockland writer Elias Ahonen — who joined after being interviewed for a story on physical Bitcoin — Andrew Singer, Max Parasol of the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub, Christos Makridis of Stanford College, and freelance crypto writers Jillian Godsil and Julian Jackson. Journal is at all times on the lookout for extra contributors, so if you want to jot down for the publication, get in touch.
With out additional ado, listed below are among the highlights (and a few lowlights) of the primary three years of Cointelegraph Journal.
— Andrew Fenton, Cointelegraph Journal editor
The most well-liked tales
WTF happened in 1971 (and why the f**k it matters so much right now)
Essentially the most constantly fashionable story on the location explores whether or not former U.S. President Richard Nixon’s choice to do away with the gold normal, which backed U.S. {dollars} with gold, brought on a bunch of social and financial issues. Since 1971, productiveness elevated whereas wages flatlined; GDP surged, however the share going to employees plummeted; and home costs went by the roof. Is it causation or merely correlation?
How to prepare for the end of the bull run, Part 1 and Part 2
Important studying earlier than the following bull run, we spoke with among the most revered pundits in crypto — together with Filbfilb, Mati Greenspan and Scott Melker — about the right way to play the inevitable crash. TLDR: All the time take earnings on the way in which up.
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Toss in your job and make $300K working for a DAO? Here’s how
Nataliya Ilyushina and Trent MacDonald remodeled their very own educational analysis into an interesting article about how among the workers concerned within the “nice resignation” remodeled their lives by working for DAOs. (Readers additionally flocked to our related explainer on the right way to arrange a DAO, “How to bake your own DAO at home — With just 5 ingredients!”)
Child’s play: Gajesh Naik, 13, manages a fortune in DeFi
The headline says all of it: A 13-year-old child from Goa in India is managing a million-dollar DeFi platform. Would you belief a seventh grader together with your life financial savings?
5 massive questions answered
Can Bitcoin survive a Carrington Event knocking out the grid?
Should crypto projects ever negotiate with hackers?
What really goes on at a crypto OTC desk?
10 nice options
The FBI’s takedown of Virgil Griffith for breaking sanctions, firsthand
Creator Ethan Lou attended the notorious North Korean crypto convention alongside Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith, who’s now serving 5 years in jail for serving to the nation evade sanctions utilizing crypto. Lou’s article portrays Griffith as so dangerously naive that he volunteered a lot of the proof the FBI used to convict him.
Ethereum is eating the world — ‘You only need one internet’
Zero-knowledge proofs and recursive scaling imply the whole world’s monetary system may theoretically run on Ethereum. Reader suggestions was very optimistic, with many commenting this was one of many few issues ever written about zk-Rollups that tried to elucidate it in easy phrases for abnormal folks.
NFT ‘art revolution’: Beeple on his 5,040-day labor of love
Journal profiled NFT artist Beeple shortly earlier than he discovered world fame for auctioning his “Everydays” work for $69 million. He already knew it was going to be a giant deal, telling Journal it was Christie’s first completely digital public sale and that it could settle for Ether. “There might be no bodily piece; they’re actually simply auctioning off a JPEG. And so, I believe that might be a really massive second, and massive validation for this house.”
The lizard people invented Bitcoin: Crypto is a hotbed for conspiracy theories
With the pandemic stepping into full swing in 2020 and paranoia operating rampant on Crypto Twitter, Journal determined to search out out why crypto followers are drawn to conspiracy theories. It turns on the market are some superb causes, not least as a result of there actually are shadowy actors manipulating occasions behind the scenes in crypto.
How Silk Road made your mailman a dealer
One among Journal’s earliest revealed tales explores how Bitcoin got here to public consideration after being adopted to be used on the darknet market Silk Highway. Containing an in depth first-person narrative on how one really purchased medication or different unlawful stuff on the darknet, it’s maybe not stunning that the writer remained nameless.
The crypto effect: Trading altcoins at the edge of addiction
Photojournalist Matt Danzico checked out how merchants have been spiraling into dependancy and the rising therapy choices to wean them away from their subsequent crypto rush.
Block by block: Blockchain technology is transforming the real estate market
Think about proudly owning a token representing a two-millionth share of the Empire State Constructing. Analysts say that tokenized actual property might be value $1.4 trillion if it captures simply half a % of the worldwide property market.
Is Ethereum left and Bitcoin right?
Does the battle between “conservative” Bitcoiners who wish to protect the “finest cash in historical past” and “progressive” Ethereans who wish to push issues ahead mirror our divided political tradition? Sure, it does.
Soulbound Tokens: Social credit system or spark for global adoption?
When Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin unveiled his Soulbound Tokens paper, there was plenty of warmth however not a lot mild shed on how they’d really work in apply. Journal spoke with Buterin’s co-author Glen Weyl to get the lowdown on this vital new growth.
Crypto kids fight Facebook for the soul of the Metaverse
Meta is throwing the whole lot it has into dominating the Metaverse like Fb dominated social for thus lengthy, however Web3 proponents are combating to make it open supply and decentralized.
Most fascinating folks
Dmitry Buterin: Vitalik Buterin’s dad revealed his personal fascinating life story as a pc scientist and entrepreneur who left Russia to make it in Toronto. He spoke about raising Vitalik, psychedelics, libertarianism and philosophy.
Damien Hirst: Journal spoke with the legendary British artist in his West London studio forward of the launch of his progressive “The Foreign money” NFT challenge.
Roger Ver: “Bitcoin Jesus” dropped a bombshell that fairly than go to jail in 2002 for promoting firecrackers, he’d thought-about killing himself to be cryogenically revived at a later date.
Peter McCormack: The podcaster advised a narrative about how his flirtation with utilizing Bitcoin to purchase cocaine on Silk Highway left him hospitalized — and the way he made and misplaced a fortune twice.
David Chaum: The crypto pioneer whose work impressed the cypherpunks advised Journal about how he risked a lifetime in jail laying the inspiration for Bitcoin.
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Carl “The Moon” Runefelt: The social media influencer genuinely believes that he manifested his crypto wealth just by believing he would get rich, recalling the premise of the pseudoscientific bestseller The Secret.
Tim Draper: The previous Bitcoin billionaire (all the way down to half a billion now) shared his ideas for investing success and his glass-half-full philosophy. As a substitute of on the lookout for what may go improper, he thinks: “What if it really works and one thing actually extraordinary occurs?”
Lushsux: The controversial Melbourne avenue artist has been engaged in “strategic trolling” for a decade now and extra lately started to make a reputation for himself and a small fortune with NFTs.
Chris Blec: DeFi’s loudmouth troublemaker is a decentralization maxi. Is he good or unhealthy for decentralized finance?
Griff Green: The DOGE-loving hippy white hat hacker who shortly replicated The DAO hacker’s exploit to steal as a lot of its Ether earlier than the hacker may get away with the lot.
The worst: Rogues gallery
January and February 2021 have been one thing of a low level for Journal, as three profiles of trade figures got here out in fast succession who went on to turn out to be the largest crypto villains of 2022: Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky, FTX and Alameda founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Member of the European Parliament Eva Kaili — who was lately charged after investigators allegedly discovered baggage of money from bribes in her condominium.
Studying them again, the Mashinsky profile from January 2021 stands up okay and included criticism of the agency’s abrupt $20 million elevate, the “absurd cult” round him, rumors Celsius was taking dangers, and a alternative quote from podcaster Peter McCormack, who mentioned the “bloke’s a weirdo and he must get his act collectively.”
A month later, the SBF profile was far too prepared to take his effective-altruism spin at face worth and likened it to robbing from the wealthy to provide to the poor. “Possibly with out the robbing half,” Bankman-Fried mentioned, with out a hint of irony. In actuality, prosecutors say he was robbing from the poor FTX customers so Alameda may make dangerous bets.
That very same month, the biggest crypto proponent in the European Parliament, Kaili, presumably make clear why she would possibly favor (alleged) money bribes to crypto ones, telling Journal that “between me and also you, I believe the easiest way to get those that wish to tax-evade is to place them on blockchain, as a result of nothing is ever gone perpetually.”
Better of the worldwide protection
Whereas a lot of crypto media is concentrated on the U.S., Journal has made a aware effort to report on one of the best tales from all over the world.
In Georgia, crypto is a crucial tool for refugees escaping the war
Cointelegraph’s European editor Aaron Wooden relocated from Saint Petersburg in Russia to Tbilisi, Georgia at first of the Ukrainian invasion. He shared the story of how Russian refugees used crypto to maneuver belongings throughout borders and stayed afloat by buying and selling crypto for money at Tbilisi’s bodily exchanges.
Crypto in the Philippines (Half 1) and The ethics of hiring cheap Filipino staff (Half 2).
The primary a part of our collection checked out crypto adoption within the Philippines, whereas the second appeared on the ethics of crypto initiatives hiring low cost Filipino labor. The latter story was named among the finest articles of the month in February 2021 by the Affiliation of Cryptocurrency Journalists and Researchers.
Inside the Iranian Bitcoin mining industry
Tehran-based journalist Saeed Jalili went deep contained in the Iranian Bitcoin mining trade, which is dominated by unlawful, underground mines.
Thailand’s Crypto Utopia — ‘90% of a cult, without all the weird stuff’
Journal visited Thailand to cowl the crypto digital nomad scene and stumbled throughout this insane story about how Bitcoin OG Kyle Chasse arrange a libertarian Bitcoin commune. The story concerned “unchecked merrymaking,” crypto influencers, police grillings, seasteading, a reported $20,000-a-month burn price — and a serious collision between idealism and actuality.
What it’s actually like to use Bitcoin in El Salvador
Joe Corridor spent two weeks within the Central American nation making an attempt to pay for the whole lot with Bitcoin. It didn’t work out so properly, even at Bitcoin Seaside.
Our fashionable China-based crypto information round-up from Our Man in Shanghai ran all through 2021 however was placed on ice following the good China crypto crackdown. It’s returning quickly with a wider give attention to Asia and a brand new author who isn’t bodily primarily based in China and, as such, doesn’t must worry repercussions for talking their thoughts.
Journal’s guides to the crypto historical past, companies, meetups, providers and schooling in cities all over the world kicked off with Melbourne (Australia) in August 2021. It has since visited Vancouver (Canada), San Francisco (U.S.), Prague (Czech Republic), Miami (U.S.), Dubai (UAE), Austin (U.S.), New York (U.S.) and Tokyo (Japan).
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